Communication | Should you send angry 'ego mail' to an employee's boss?

Professionalism is a vague and interpretable term; what may seem like the proper course of action for one individual may well seem completely unacceptable to another.

In some offices, the culture defines a working environment in which casual dress and ‘swear’ words are completely acceptable – this is often the case in more youth-oriented businesses, whereas in a traditional company, this may seem completely unacceptable.

While most workers follow a mostly-unwritten set of rules, it’s plain to see how some may misjudge their behaviour and land themselves in trouble.

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Professionalism | What does your work email say about you?

One such perceived lapse in judgement is, according to a study conducted by Cambridge University, the act of Cc’ing a superior into a complaint email. Yes, this could be seen as simply ensuring that the proper lines of superiority are being followed, however the study, which was conducted by Professor David De Cremer of Cambridge University’s Judge Business School, concluded that employees who regularly Cc bosses into their emails do so to ensure that their gripes unsettle their co-workers.